The Three Christs of Ypsilanti

<b>NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE<br><br>This landmark case study of three schizophrenic patients offers a &#147;rare and eccentric journey&#148; into madness shining a light on the ethical dilemmas of institutionalized care in the mid-20th century (<i>Slate</i>)</b><br>&#160;<br>On July 1 1959 at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Michigan the social psychologist Milton&#160;Rokeach&#160;brought together three paranoid schizophrenics: Clyde Benson an elderly farmer and alcoholic; Joseph&#160;Cassel a failed writer who was institutionalized after increasingly violent behavior toward his family; and Leon&#160;Gabor a college dropout and veteran of World War II.<br><br>The men had one thing in common: each believed himself to be Jesus Christ. Their extraordinary meeting and the two years they spent in one another&#146;s company serves as the basis for an investigation into the nature of human identity belief and delusion that is poignant amusing and at times disturbing. Displaying the sympathy and subtlety of a gifted novelist&#160;Rokeach&#160;draws us into the lives of three troubled and profoundly different men who find themselves &#147;confronted with&#160;the ultimate contradiction conceivable for human beings: more than one person claiming the same identity.&#148;